Moreover, it must be admitted, there is a great deal in the _genius loci_. That spirit had succeeded in developing John Owens’s foundation into a splendid institution suited to the local life and requirements. They in Manchester knew what the busy North wanted, but they were not quite so sure that the Dons of Oxford and Cambridge knew it as well as they themselves did. They asked to be allowed to work out their own salvation in their own way. They were already to all intents and purposes a university; their students were university students in age and education, and their courses of instruction were fully up to university standard, and their yearly entry would compare not unfavourably with that of many universities in our own and other countries. Other arguments were adduced, possible objections were anticipated and met, and a strong case was established. The senate, however, moved cautiously. They proceeded to collect and circulate opinions on the propriety of seeking a university charter, and eventually the matter was brought before the court of governors, who appointed a special committee, on which Roscoe was placed, to consider and report upon the whole subject. A considerable number of persons, heads of colleges, university teachers, and others eminent in the educational world, or who had identified themselves with educational movements, were consulted, and with the consent of the writers their replies were collected and distributed to the leading newspapers and journals with a view to elicit public opinion. An analysis of the general feeling so far as it could be ascertained from newspaper and other criticism was made by Roscoe in concert with Principal Greenwood and Professor Ward, and laid before the special committee. The _Liverpool Daily Post_ was adverse to the project, for reasons which will appear subsequently. The late Lord Sherbrooke, who, as the Rt. Hon. Robert Lowe, at that time represented the University of London, was equally condemnatory in the pages of the _Fortnightly Review_. But the preponderating opinion was undoubtedly favourable.